Mission
OrthoX is focused on reducing the limitations placed on active orthopedic patients by providing high performance products for orthopedic surgery and joint replacement applications
Company
OrthoX (pronounced ’or-tho-‘ex) was founded in 2004 by Jim Mason, PhD, while he was an Associate Professor at the University of Notre Dame. The company’s early focus has been on high fatigue bone cements and associated mixing systems. However, the long range focus is on high performance orthopedic implants for the active, aging baby boomer population and the Gen-X doctors who treat them.
For the past several years, the team at OrthoX has been perfecting and proving the technology behind its high fatigue cements resulting in several publications. [1,2,3] Funding for this work has been provided by the National Science Foundation through Phase I, Phase II and Phase IIb Small Business Technology Transfer grants, matching funds for the Phase I grant from the 21st Century Research and Technology Fund of the State of Indiana and a grant from the Indiana SBIR/STTR Commercialization Enhancement Program of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation of the State of Indiana.
OrthoX is currently preparing a submission to the Food and Drug Administration for its first product, Fibelex bone cement, and is expected to make that submission in the near future. In laboratory testing Fibelex has shown fatigue life in excess of one hundred times that of commonly used cements.
Team
Jim Mason, PhD
Founder, President
Jim Mason founded OrthoX in 2004. He has a PhD degree in mechanics from the California Institute of Technology, an MS degree in Materials Science from UC Berkeley, and a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from UC Berkeley. Dr Mason served on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame for twelve years, reaching the rank of full Professor before leaving to work at Zimmer Inc. as a director of new technology/product research and development. He has over ten years experience in orthopedics, over 25 years experience in materials and is currently serving as President of OrthoX, including the management of business affairs and product development.
Weimin Yue, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
Weimin Yue joined OrthoX in 2006. He has a PhD in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Science and Technology, China. Dr Yue’s research has been focused on the biomaterials, biopolymers and bone mineral. He is responsible for scientific development of the cements and for commercialization of OrthoX first product, Fibelex.
Maria Mason – Operations
Maria Mason joined OrthoX on a part-time basis in 2006. She has a BS degree in management. Mrs Mason’s management experience is primarily in the health care industry and non-profit companies. She is responsible for the operations of OrthoX.